The common thread

The common thread

THE BIBLE IS A COMPILATION OF 66 BOOKS WITH 1189 CHAPTERS THAT COVER SEVERAL TOPICS. HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT THE ESSENCE IS?

Jesus focuses on these three topics in the Gospels:

The Great Prayer

The Great Commandment

The Great Commission

These three topics make a braided rope that will not break, and if we hold on to this rope, we will not fall. The Common Thread is a 3-point summary from Jesus. Let’s have a closer look at these key points!

THE GOAL - The Great Prayer

In Matthew 6, in the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus told us to pray, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”. God’s plan for this planet is good. He wants His kingdom to come to our neighborhood, city, and country! By doing what God wants, we bring heaven down to earth.

In Romans Paul wrote that the Kingdom of God comes when we live a life of goodness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. When we let God be in charge, He will change our hearts and relationships so we can impact our communities in a positive way.

By our prayers and actions, we make sure God’s will happens on earth. Bringing heaven down to earth is God’s goal and plan for our planet.

THE MOTIVATION – The Great Commandment

In Matthew 22, Jesus answered which commandment was the most important. Jesus’ said that to love God and to love your neighbor sums up the whole Word of God. Love is the answer!

When we see what real love is, we understand that we do not have the ability to really love one another. We are like the moon that has no light in itself, but can only reflect light from the sun. Jesus told us that we should love one another just like He loved us, and that is only possible when we connect to God’s love.

So nobody can really love other people without loving God first, and nobody can love others without first being loved by God. God’s unconditional love is our motivation.

THE WAY – The Great Commission

Just before Jesus left the earth, He gave us his great mission. While his most famous commission is found in Matthew 28, He repeated it in different ways in the Gospels and in The Book of Acts. If we put these together, we see that that the mission has three focused areas:

Our experience is that keeping these three areas fresh in mind and when we pass them on to the next person, God always connects us with new and open people. When He sees that we are ready, He sends the right people who are ready to receive the Gospel.

So when new people receive Christ, they are equipped to share the Good News with their family and friends, and trained to be mature disciples. Multiplication of disciples is God’s idea how he wants His Kingdom to come. This might be slow in the beginning but after a few generations it really takes off!

How to remember

So how can you remember the topics in The Common Thread? Perhaps some “Matthewmatics” will help you?